Special Education Teacher - IHSCA

Institute For Latino Progress•Chicago, IL

17d•Onsite

About The Position

Instituto Health Science Career Academy along with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has set ambitious goals to ensure that every child—in every school and every neighborhood—has access to a world-class learning experience from birth, resulting in graduation from high school college- and career-ready. In alignment with CPS/ISBE, our school strives to provide high quality and specially designed instructional supports and services for all students with disabilities within the least restrictive environment. We work collaboratively with the goal of improving the academic achievement of all students with disabilities by ensuring they receive meaningful and relevant access to grade level core instruction within the school. The special education teacher provides appropriate, effective, and culturally relevant instruction to, while ensuring a safe environment that supports student’s social-emotional growth and individualized education plan (IEP).

Requirements

Completion of a Bachelor’s degree in special education and/or core area content
A valid Illinois Professional Educator License (PEL) in one of the following areas: Special Education (PK-Age 21) endorsement (LBS1) or School Support Personnel endorsement with a supervisory endorsement
Five years of experience working with students with disabilities required
ICTS Basic Skills and Content Area tests successfully passed
Working knowledge of federal and state laws related to the education of Diverse Learners
Ability to maintain a high sense of confidentiality
Able to work with a wide variety of people
Team player and willing to take on multiple tasks at once and independent worker, requires minimal supervision
Exceptional organization and time management skills
Excellent oral and written communication skills, bilingual English/Spanish preferred
Maintain composure under pressure
Dependable and punctual
Strong project management skills, attention to detail and effective management of multiple projects at one time
Ability to adhere to deadlines, react to unpredictable events quickly and efficiently, be resourceful, manage conflict and challenges

Nice To Haves

Reading and/or ESL/Bilingual endorsement a plus

Responsibilities

Designing lessons consistent with student IEP
Utilizing adaptive devices/technology to provide general curricular content access to students
Preparing and implementing IEPs (including transition plans and behavior management plans) for each assigned student based on individually assessed needs
Using appropriate assessment instruments pertinent to academic, communication, and behavioral areas
Adapting teaching materials to make it appropriate and relevant to the students’ needs
Conducts individual or group sessions to meet educational, social, and emotional needs of the students
Participates on the school-based intervention team, in-school staffing team and in the screening processes, as appropriate
Actively participates on student IEP meetings
Uploads/Updates all documentation in accordance with CPS and IHSCA program compliance
Plans and implements self-care programs, including direct assistance to students (e.g., toileting, positioning, lifting, feeding, etc.)
Monitors and oversees services provided by paraprofessionals and/or other support personnel assigned to classroom and/or student in classroom
Obtains and monitors present levels/baselines of assigned special needs students
Refers those students who require further evaluation or follow-up services to the appropriate school personnel
Provides timely feedback to students, parents and administrators of student progress, expectations and goals
Includes a school-wide focus on the social/cultural domain of learning and student experience, with an emphasis on incorporating the No Non-Sense Nurturing framework and Health Sciences-related materials into the classroom on a regular basis
Takes daily attendance and submits it to PowerSchool
Participates on Teacher Parents Conferences to discuss academic student progress
Contacts parents via e-mail, phone or during Parent Teacher Conferences to discuss academics and behavior on a regular basis
Willingness to sponsors extracurricular activities
Follows all IHSCA’s school-wide standards regarding teacher behaviors
Adheres to all IHSCA’s electronic and web-based rules and restrictions.
Follow all guidelines found in the Instituto and IHSCA employee handbooks
Other duties as assigned
Identifies and participates in conferences, workshops and Professional Development sessions to keep up to date with the best teaching practices and implementing best practices in the classroom.
Works collaboratively with instructors of core subjects to identify multiple learning strategies in order to successfully teach students with varying learning styles most effectively and in an engaging manner
Work collaboratively with social workers, special education staff, and deans of students to ensure the behavioral and educational abilities of students are developed for success after high school.
Uses reflective practices to assess personal and professional growth in order to seek out opportunities to continually advance professional knowledge and skill